Pluto: The Gift that Keeps on Giving
This image shows the inset in context next to a larger view of Pluto’s encounter hemisphere. The inset was obtained by the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) instrument on New Horizons. The image resolution is about 1,050 feet (320 meters) per pixel. The image measures a little over 300 miles (almost 500 kilometers) long and about 210 miles (340 kilometers) wide. It was obtained at a range of approximately 9,950 miles (16,000 kilometers) from Pluto, about 12 minutes before the spacecraft’s closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015.
Courtesy NASA/JHU-APL, SWRI/New Horizons mission.
The King of the Kuiper Belt Objects continues to deliver its secrets, data bit by data bit as the New Horizons spacecraft slowly radios its mother lode of science from the July 14th flyby back to Earth. The latest thing it’s showing us is a series of chunky hills made of water ice. They ride along on the nitrogen glaciers that cover Sputnik Planum. That’s the ice plain that we see at the “heart” of the heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio.
How Do Water Mountains Form on Pluto?
Okay, so we know that nitrogen ice dominates Pluto’s surface. So, how do water-ice mountains get into the picture? It turns out they’re jabbing up from the Planum because of the differences between the two types of ice that are there. Water ice is less dense than the nitrogen-rich ice. That means that, like the way ice cubes float in a glass of water or iced tea, the water ice mountains are floating in a sea of frozen nitrogen. They’re moving more like icebergs do in Earth’s Arctic Ocean.
The next question is, if they’re floating like icebergs, where do they come from? The nearby water ice mountains ringing the Planum may provide clues. “Chains” of these drifting hills get in the way of the surface glaciers as they flow. Eventually some of the hills enter the cellular terrain of central Sputnik Planum. That’s when the motion of the nitrogen ice takes over and pushes them out to the edges of the surface cell. What New Horizons is showing us are 20-kilometer-long ice mountain “ranges” being shoved around by the action of nitrogen ice. Imagine a 20-kilometer stretch of the Colorado Rockies or the Himalayas being pushed around to get an idea of the geological action taking place on Pluto.
This is all incredibly exciting — one year after New Horizons formally began its “close fly-by” mission operations, it’s telling an amazing story about this world that is, by all rights, one of the most interesting planetary bodies in the solar system.
The post Pluto: The Gift that Keeps on Giving appeared first on .
Source: http://thespacewriter.com/wp/2016/02/05/pluto-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!
Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!
HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.
Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.
MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)
Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!
Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.
Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).
| Online: | |
| Visits: | 1,605,552,422 |
| Stories: | 8,137,536 |
Whistler Blowers, Insiders
